Inspiration Strikes
by AravaT
Summary: AU story. A glimpse into a Caskett family summer at the Hamptons. Fluff. "Kate took a moment to breath in the clean ocean air; take in the scents of her family's vacation home. " Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to the shows creator. See the picture that inspired this at my tumbler, found on my profile page. **

Kate opened the heavy front door to the Hamptons home, sneaking around it and leaning against it gently as it latched closed. She let out a cleansing sigh as she slipped out of her heels, so relieved and happy to be home, well at least be at the next best thing to home.

The house was quiet and dim, a single lamp lit the entry hallway and the rhythmic and powerful waves of the summer storm could be heard from beyond their yard. Kate took a moment to breath in the clean ocean air; take in the scents of her family's vacation home. The long, treacherous drive from the city allowed her to get some distance from the stress of her work.

She loves her job, feels accomplished and honored to give victim's families closer and offer a voice to those who were robbed of their own. But this week had been particularly brutal on her. The case that landed in her lap this week revolved around the murder of an 11-year-old boy, found strangled in Central Park. It was haunting and disturbing to discover that it was the boy's estranged father that had committed the crime.

Kate couldn't tell if she was grateful or not for the fact that she had left her family at the Hamptons last Sunday night. Part of her was thankful to keep the light that guided her life now away from such darkness; but another part of her had wished incessantly that she had been able to come home to the warmth and cheer her family provided. Regardless, Kate had been home alone at the loft for the last five days while her family laughed and played in the summer sun and sand, but duty called and she answered.

Five days later though, she couldn't wait any longer and had to get back to that light and warmth and laughter. So instead of crashing at the loft and driving back up in the morning, Kate rushed to repacked her duffle bag and hopped in the car for the long drive. She could already tell it wasn't a mistake.

As she walked through the house Kate saw toys, puzzles, picture books, and more scattered here and there; a mess of pillows and blankets pitched into a fort in the living room; and wet swim trunks and towels hung over the chairs and tables of the dining room. Kate smirked to herself, knowing Castle was planning to get up early and straightened things up before her arrival- always trying to make her think he had it all under control. Sweet man.

Making her way up the wide staircase, Kate strained to hear any signs of a wakeful Castle. Wondering if he would be up this late and hoping none of the kids were. She slipped off her rain-dampened jacket as she ascended, hearing nothing but the booming clap of thunder and the striking of lightening. Mhm summer storms like this brought back some amazing memories for her. Memories of that first time Castle made love to her, the phantom feeling of his hands, lips, and body entwined with hers elicit a shiver along her spine. Yeah, she hoped Castle was still awake.

Ignoring the urge to race to their bedroom and surprise her husband with more than just her presence, Kate veered down the first hallway coming to the bedroom door of her youngest son. She slipped into the softly lit room and padded over to the small bed. However, on closer inspection she realized the bed was empty of her son and his blankie. Furrowing her brows she ventured out to check the twin's room and sure enough both beds were sans little boys.

Figuring that all of her boys must be in the big bed she returns to the main hallway, heading towards the more secluded master bedroom that faced the ocean. Kate still wondered if her man was awake somewhere in the house, perhaps in the library or down in the den.

However, as she came to the open French doors of her bedroom the mystery was solved. The sight before her nearly knocked the wind out of her because of the feeling of pure contentment and joy that came with the sight of all of her boys snuggled in bed. And she does mean all her boys. A shirtless Castle was lying on his side, one arm buried under the pillows and the other resting lightly over the rounded stomach of their youngest, August.

August was crammed right up against his fathers chest arms raised next to his ears like he has done since he was an infant. Even when Castle executed the perfect swaddling technique within a few minutes August had always squirmed his little hands up to his ears.

Next in line were their five-year-old twins. Marlow, cuddled close to his little brother and hunkered in the down comforter, no doubt from fear of the storm. Her tenderhearted boy. And finally, braving the outside edge was her dare devil of a son Wesley, laying face down, arms and legs askew, taking up the most room on what was usually her side of the bed. His twisted stripped pajama shirt was a testament to how he moves nonstop, even in sleep. Kate smiled tenderly as she meandered over to Castles side of the bed to kneel next to the bed at Castle's back. She slid her arm down her husband's strong bicep and curled it around his chest, taking one more peek and her family before disturbing it.

The peaceful sound of little breaths huffing and mumbling in sleep, thick and long eyelashes flickering with the excitement of their dreaming. It painted the perfect illusion of serenity, but Kate knew that in about 6 hours her boys would be going non-stop, crawling all over her, playing rambunctiously, fueled by their father's adventurous games of make believe and magic.

When she found out she was pregnant the first time, she was excited and thrilled to be making a family with Rick; when she found out she was having twins, she was terrified-worried there wouldn't be enough of her to go around.

When Castle shyly theorized that the reason she was exhausted, moody, and had sore breasts was because she might be pregnant again, Kate was simply overwhelmed and in denial. Having two 18-month olds and finding out you're pregnant was shamefully one of the worst moments of her life. But now, with this image before her and the secret knowledge she had yet to tell Castle about, she was simply happy.

As crazy and exhausting as it was, she absolutely loved it, loved being a mother. Never once had she believed she could ever have joy and love and contentment overflowing from her heart, not since her mother's death. But here she was, getting to love these beautiful children she helped create and being loved by a fun, faithful, gorgeous husband. On that thought, Kate nuzzled closer to Castle's ear, whispering into its shell.

"Castle, wake up. Your Misses is home."

Castle mumbled quietly and slowly emerged from sleep, blinking lazy, sexy eyes open and turning his shoulder slightly to see his wife hovering above him.

"Kate? What are you doing here?" He asked ineloquently, but she simply leaned in and gave him a soft, tender kiss on his lips. Castle hummed and wrapped his one free arm around her shoulders, attempting to pull her up on top of him but she resisted.

"Mhmm" Kate hummed as she broke the kiss, smiling at the drugged look on Castle's face and tracing light circles on his chest. "Missed that," she added with a smirk.

"Well c'mere and get a little more then." Castle sleepily whispered as another lick of lightening brightened the room, illuminating the beautiful features of her family for a split second.

Inspiration struck.

"Nope, you come here. Come with me Castle," Kate said mischievously, beginning to get a second wind of energy as mild arousal simmered in her bones.

**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it so far. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Just for the sake of ease and with the power of creativity, I am going to make Castle and Beckett a few years younger. Same past, same history just started a little earlier in their lives. So they are younger in this story. I apologize if that inaccuracy bothers you. I hope you enjoy this next chapter**

**Image that has inspired this story is on my tumblr, link is found on my page. Thank you. **

**Disclaimer: Belongs to ABC and Andrew Marlow**

**Chapter 2:**

Kate corralled a sleepy Castle down the stairs, hand-in-hand, explaining how she just didn't want to spend another night alone at the loft and how she wanted to be here to wake up the kids and make breakfast. She just wanted to be here.

"We'll come home with you next week, that way the loft won't seem so empty," Castle offered sweetly.

"No that's fine Rick, stay up here and enjoy the summer. I just missed the boys but I'll be fine," Kate appeased, warmed by the fact that Castle is always so accommodating to her needs.

"Kate," Castle called to her, grabbing her hand and slowing her down as they came into the living room. He pulled her close into his arms, pushing a bit of hair behind her ear, "If you need us home, we'll be home."

Kate couldn't help but smile sweetly at that. This man and his words. She jumped up on her toes a bit to land a chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

"Always," he smiled "Now, why did you drag me out of bed if not to do unspeakable things to my body," Castle asked with that infamous Castle charm and a wink. She began leading him by the hand towards the blanketed fort set up in the corner of the room, turning on a low-lit lamp as she passed.

"In your dreams Castle," she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"See now how many times do we have to go over this? First of, haven't we established that my dreams come true. Look at my life: I've got four amazing, hilarious kids, a beach house in the Hamptons, I get to play pretend cop, and my wife is a sexy, bad ass detective," Castle listed out, running out of breath as Kate dragged him down into the fort seemingly without his notice.

"And second of all, I've told you in most of my dreams you just join in with me an-"

"Finish that sentence Rick and you are a dead man," Kate sternly interrupted him, giving him her detective face that still could put the fear of God in Castle.

"Right. Shutting up now," he wisely finished before looking around him and finally realizing where she had led him. He peered down at Kate grinning at the content smile that graced her lips as she stretched out in the pile of pillows and blankets all around them. They were tucked away in the tee-pee style fort that he had made with the boys last night.

"C'mere and catch me up on your week. You never had time to go into detail on the phone. Give me the goods, woman. " Castle quipped, getting comfortable on a stack of pillows and opening up one arm for her to snuggle down into his side.

"Trust me Castle, you don't want the details of this case." Kate said in a hushed tone while she scooted over without hesitation, rolling into his side and draping one foot down between his calves. She needed the bulk of his body to push out all the shadows of her week. Kate took a deep breath, smelling his body wash on his bare skin, comforted by the woodsy, citrus smell.

"You really don't want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to bring it here. That's why I came here tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow; to get away from it all and just… Just be in all the happiness and joy that pours over us here." Kate admitted, eyes staring off at nothing and tracing a finger along the lines of his chest.

Castle grabbed her hand, bringing it up and playing with her long fingers before saying, "You're kinda beautiful you know that? You think I have all the words and then you come and knock the wind out of me with something like that."

Kate lifted up and rolled over him to rest her torso along his, elbows resting on him and her smile was radiant, absolutely full of pride. Castle could barely stand not crushing her to him and kissing those bowed lips. "You give me all the words I could ever need Castle," she whispered to him, drawing a finger lightly down the sharp angle of his nose while they absorb the beauty of a moment alone.

"Now," she said after a long pause, situating back down at his side, "tell me about your week, how were the boys. Did August finally get over his sharing issue with the dolphin floaty?" Kate asked, referring to their youngest son's tantrums over the pool toy.

"Oh geez, yeah you're lucky you missed his melt down over it. He full on imploded when I said it was Marlow's turn on it. Had to take him out of the pool for a time out and little chat." Castle explained for her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and twirling a piece of her hair.

"And has Wesley hatched more crazy schemes?"

"Only one so far that I foiled; he climbed up six shelves in the library, _six_ Kate! That kid has no fear in him. I blame you, you adrenalin junkie," he teasingly accused

"Says the guy who chases around cops and murders without a weapon," she tossed back.

"Only because you wont let me have a gun!" Castle exclaimed in mock outrage then pouted.

"I've given you my spare when it's important. Plus you've got me to back you up."

"Mhmm," he hummed happily in agreement, loving that he has her as back up in all aspects of life. "You are one sexy as hell back up too."

"Man, you're really working for those unspeakable acts, huh?" she teased, nipping at the sensitive skin at the side of his ribs.

"Katherine Beckett, I would never!" he muttered, lying through his teeth and she knew because they do those unspeakable acts whenever they get a moment alone, which is far less often than they would like.

"Sure Castle, sure. So Wesley monkey-ed his way up the bookshelf, what was he going for?" Kate inquired.

"My Samaria sword."

"Oh and you blame his shelf-climbing on me? That kid is Richard Castle reincarnated. I've talked to Martha about it and she said you were just like that as a kid."

"She lies. I was an angel. Moving on," he segued and she rolled her eyes. "So I walk down the hall toward the library, nose buried in my phone. That was when I was messaging you about the Esplanie gossip, and along the way I pass August, who is just hanging out by the guestroom, which I thought was weird. But the second I pass him, he darts in front of me, little feet slapping the floor and his round belly pushed out trying to be aerodynamic and all," Castle laughed and worked to build the image for Kate to get lost in, away from the shadows and into the light.

"He runs down the hall, making what I think was supposed to be a bird call, and disappears into the library. Not obvious at all, right?" he added as Kate began to laugh, knowing how sneaky her boys _think_ they are.

"He was on lookout then?" she commented.

"Guess so, a really terrible lookout," he concludes while they snicker a bit.

"So what happened next?" Kate couldn't help herself but to want to see this through his words.

"Well I walk into the library, investigate a bit if you will, and spot Marlow jumping to hide behind the curtain abandoning his fellow brethren in the good fight. And Wesley was on shelf six, reaching for seven. He was apparently intent on getting at least a finger on the sword because he didn't react at all when I called him out. Just kept on reaching." Castle explained with a big smile on his face, somehow proud and pleased by how mischievous their kids are and proud that he can make his wife crack up as she was doing.

"We are going to be so unbelievably screwed when they're teenagers." Kate snorted out, rolling back up onto his chest to look down at him and run her hands through the thick head of hair.

"Yeah, we are. But…" Castle started but trails off in thought. "They _are_ pretty fun even if they're a bit crazy."

"Mhmm, we make pretty great kids you know that." Kate decided and leaned down to kiss the man that made this life possible. She swiped her tongue out to touch his full bottom lip, causing Castle to surge into the kiss, threading a hand into her hair and pulling her body more firmly against his.

It was always like this with them, the ember of love so easily erupted into a flame of lust and need. Kate knew just what moves to pull to drive him up a wall with heat and Castle knew just how to counter to make her gasp in stunned arousal.

She groaned into his mouth when he slid a hand down her back to grab at her ass a bit, filling his hand with the muscle and pulling her hips down onto the ridge of his. She popped her lips from his before they end up collapsing the fort down around themselves, but continued to trace her fingers over his chest lightly, breathing in each other's breath. Kate tucked her face down into Castle's neck, once again relishing in the fact that she came here tonight rather than waiting, came back to this. The thunder rumbled deeply around the house, rain pelted the roof above them, and Castle's heart beat strongly below her.

In the silence between them and the noise of the storm, with the heat of his chest and the gentle caress of his hand down her back, Kate had flashbacks to that night years ago when she gave up and gave in. Gave in to the emotions that ran through her veins for this man. The excitement and ecstasy of that night was palpable between them for weeks. She wanted that feeling back, had recreated that exact feeling between them it a few times and she thinks she has just the news to produce that type of euphoria.

Kate lifted up to kiss her husband once more, gave him a little advertising, a taste of what's to come if he followed her. Her tongue licked through his mouth, lips slid widely over his and she trailed down to kiss a series of hot wet presses of her lips to his neck and chest before scooting, ass first, out of the fort.

"Wa- wait, Kate where ya goin?" he asked with a dazed and completely carnal look on his face, stunned that she wasn't lying on top of him anymore.

"The rain Castle."

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><p><strong>Reviews are always appreciated. <strong>


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